The Solothurn Film Festival stands as the second oldest film festival in Switzerland, set to celebrate its 60th edition in 2025. Drawing over 65,000 admissions, this event serves as a pivotal showcase of Swiss cinema, asserting its position as one of the country’s most influential cultural gatherings. Presenting the latest in Swiss filmmaking, the festival is complemented by meticulously curated supporting programs. Serving as an ideal rendezvous point for an international audience of industry professionals, the Solothurn Film Festival provides a platform to explore the diverse landscape of Swiss filmmaking.

Find out more about the projects & and check out our teaser!

Projects

Goes to Cannes

Al Baseer – The Blind Ferryman

Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes

Directed by: Ali Al-Fatlawi

Produced by: Samir, Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktin (Switzerland) Ali Al-Fatlawi, Karada Films (Iraq)

Country of production: Switzerland, Iraq, Qatar

Original title: Al Baseer – Der blinde Fährmann

Language: Arabic

Runtime: 100

The blind ferryman Ayoub lives in the endless Iraqi Marshes. One night he falls in love with a mysterious woman. But no one believes that she is real, so he has to prove that his love exists.

Goes to Cannes

Don’t Let The Sun (Catch You Crying)

Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes

Directed by: Jacqueline Zünd

Produced by: Producers: Louis Mataré, David Fonjallaz; Production company: Lomotion; Co-producers: Davide Pagano, Andrea Randazzo, Gianfilippo Pedote; Co-production company: Casa delle Visioni

Country of production: Switzerland, Italy

Original title: Don't Let The Sun (Catch You Crying)

Language: English

Runtime: 97

In a world almost like ours, Jonah works for an agency that offers human relationships. When he’s hired to serve as Nika’s father, he begins to lose control of his tightly controlled life. A delicately dystopian drama set in a place of unbearable heat, where people are desperate for human warmth.

Goes to Cannes

The Exposure

Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes

Directed by: Thomas Imbach

Produced by: Thomas Imbach; Andrea Staka; Okofilm Productions, Zurich; Dan Wechsler; Prestige Films, London

Country of production: Switzerland/United Kingdom

Language: German

“Never will I sell myself. I’ll give myself away.” Lili, daughter of a gambling lawyer, is torn between family ruin and personal disgrace.

Goes to Cannes

The Laundry

Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes

Directed by: Zamo Mkhwanazi

Produced by: Philippe Coeytaux - AKKA Films / Zamo Mkhwanazi - KUDE Media / Jim Stark

Country of production: Switzerland – South Africa

Original title: Uhlanjululo

Language: Zulu , Afrikaans and English

Runtime: 100'

South Africa 1968. Khuthala hates the family-owned laundry. But as the apartheid government cracks down on Black business ownership, Khuthala is torn between chasing his music dreams and fighting the injustice that threatens the business that is the sole means of support and glue of his family.

Goes to Cannes

Do you Believe in Angels, Mr. Drowak? (Working Title)

Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes

Directed by: Nicolas Steiner

Produced by: Pascal Nothdurft & Marc Müller-Kaldenberg; Zieglerfilm Baden-Baden (Germany); Katrin Renz tellfilm (Switzerland)

Country of production: Germany & Switzerland

Original title: Sie glauben an Engel, Herr Drowak? (working title)

Language: German

Runtime: 110'

Welcome to the grim world of Hugo Drowak. A misanthrope, boozer, and stinking old good-for-nothing. We invite you on a fanciful journey replete with romance, gloom, and poetry. A story about longing. Starring Luna Wedler, Karl Markovics, Lars Eidinger, Dominique Pinon, Jan Bülow